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Ted Cruz Introduces Bill To Strip Federal Benefits From Married Same-Sex Couples

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Ted Cruz has reintroduced legislation which, among other actions, would strip federal recognition of same-sex marriages, and thus, federal benefits.

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz is pushing the State Marriage Defense Act, legislation that if signed into law could accomplish two objectives. First, redefine marriage at the federal level to remove from hundreds of thousands of same-sex couples the federal government’s recognition of their marriages, and thus, any corresponding federal benefits they are afforded, now or in the future. And second, should the U.S. Supreme Court not find a right to marriage for same-sex couples, encourage states that do not wish to recognize those marriages to potentially nullify them.

While being framed as states’ rights legislation, the bill’s language makes clear Cruz’s actual intent, and the bill’s ramifications.

“Congress recognizes that current actions by the Federal Government to afford benefits to certain relationships not recognized as marriages by a person’s State of residence go beyond the Supreme Court’s ruling in United States v. Windsor,” the bill reads.

Currently, the federal government has been recognizing all same-sex marriages legally performed in states, even after the state has refused to do so. 

Cruz’s bill also changes the federal definition of marriage, by stating “the term ‘marriage’ shall not include any relationship which that State, territory, or possession does not recognize as a marriage, and the term ‘spouse’ shall not include an individual who is a party to a relationship that is not recognized as a marriage by that State, territory, or possession.’’

In a separate statement, the Texas Senator, a likely GOP presidential candidate in 2016, attacks President Barack Obama and indirectly, Attorney General Holder. Cruz says “the Obama Administration has disregarded state marriage laws enacted by democratically-elected legislatures to uphold traditional marriage…I support traditional marriage and we should reject attempts by the Obama Administration to force same-sex marriage on all 50 states. The State Marriage Defense Act helps safeguard the ability of states to preserve traditional marriage for their citizens.”

Cruz also warns that later this year he “will be introducing a constitutional amendment to further protect marriage and to prevent judicial activism. The amendment will make explicit that marriage is a policy question for the democratically-elected legislatures in each of the 50 states.”

A decade ago, in 2004, the United States’ General Accounting Office (GAO) issued a report that “identified a total of 1,138 federal statutory provisions classified to the United States Code in which marital status is a factor in determining or receiving benefits, rights, and privileges.” Cruz’s legislation could strip these from legally married same-sex couples in any state that chooses to not honor their marriages.

Initial sponsors of Cruz’s bill are eleven Republican Senators: John Boozman, R-AR, Mike Crapo, R-ID, Steve Daines, R-MT, James Inhofe, R-OK, James Lankford, R-OK, Mike Lee, R-UT, Pat Roberts, R-KS, Tim Scott, R-SC, Jeff Sessions, R-AL, Richard Shelby, R-AL, and David Vitter, R-LA.

In the House, U.S. Congressman Randy Weber of Texas is sponsoring the bill, and has 23 original co-sponsors, all Republican. 

 

Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr

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Europe Divorcing America Now Seen as ‘Inevitable’: Report

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After 80 years of peaceful cooperation, President Donald Trump’s tariff threats against countries opposing his efforts to take over Greenland have become the “final straw” for many European governments, which now view a “divorce” from the United States as “inevitable,” according to a Politico report.

“In private, dismayed European officials describe Trump’s rush to annex the sovereign Danish territory as ‘crazy’ and ‘mad,’ asking if he is caught up in his ‘warrior mode’ after his Venezuela adventure — and saying he deserves Europe’s toughest retaliation for what many see as a clear and unprovoked ‘attack’ against allies on the other side of the Atlantic.”

One European diplomat told Politico that Trump’s Greenland threats are being “perceived as one step too far.”

“There is a shift in U.S. policy and in many ways it is permanent,” a senior official with a European government added. “Waiting it out is not a solution. What needs to be done is an orderly and coordinated movement to a new reality.”

Politico reported that the result could be “a radical reshaping of the West that would upend the global balance of power,” which could include transatlantic economic damage and security risks.

READ MORE: Anti-Gay Bias Surges ‘Sharply’ — Even Among These Least Expected Groups: Report

And America’s “ability to project hard power into Africa and the Middle East” could also be damaged, “without access to the network of bases, airstrips and logistical support that Europe currently provides.”

That breakup may have already begun.

“National security advisers from 35 governments are in regular contact, meeting frequently online and in person, as well as interacting via less formal text messaging. They are accustomed to seeking multilateral solutions in a world where Trump is a big part of the problem.”

And national leaders across Europe, including those from the U.K., France, Germany, Finland, Italy, and the European Commission, “regularly text with each other — often in the same group chat.”

Their focus had been on Trump’s actions more than his words, but the American president’s “hell-raising over Greenland has now tipped the balance.”

The military might of this new European coalition would be “vast,” Politico noted, especially if Ukraine is included in the burgeoning new security alliance.

READ MORE: ‘Unconstitutional Conspiracy’: Judge Blasts Trump Administration Officials

 

Image via Reuters 

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Anti-Gay Bias Surges ‘Sharply’ — Even Among These Least Expected Groups: Report

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The success of the TV show “Heated Rivalry,” about two closeted hockey players who fall in love, may be masking the fact that anti-gay bias has “surged particularly sharply” since 2020, say two research psychologists in a New York Times opinion piece.

Five years after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 decision that found same-sex couples have the same rights and responsibilities to marriage as their different-sex peers, support for gay people began to “sharply reverse,” according to Dr. Tessa E.S. Charlesworth and Dr. Eli J. Finkel.

Perhaps most “surprising” are the groups where anti-gay bias is surging.

Charlesworth and Finkel noted that anti-gay bias trends “were distinctly robust among the youngest American adults — those under 25. This group increased its animus against marginalized groups in general and gay people in particular at a faster rate than older Americans did.”

“Also surprising is that although anti-gay bias has risen faster among conservatives, it has also risen among liberals,” they noted.

READ MORE: Trump on 2026 Midterms: ‘We Shouldn’t Even Have an Election’

A 2024 Gallup poll found that support for same-sex marriage was dropping, especially among Republicans.

When asked if marriage equality should be legal, Republicans’ support fell to 46% from a high of 55% in 2021 and 2022. But support also fell among Democratic and independent voters who were asked the same question.

The percentage of Americans who think homosexuality is morally acceptable had also fallen since 2022’s record high. In that year, 71% thought it was morally OK to be gay, but that fell to 64% in 2023.

Charlesworth and Finkel acknowledge that they are unsure of why support for gay people has reversed.

They speculate that social instability and anti-establishment sentiment could be to blame.

“Gay and lesbian people, newly woven into the fabric of mainstream society, may have been collateral damage in a broader revolt against a system that felt broken, especially among younger generations grappling most intensely with uncertainty about their future,” the researchers wrote.

And they issued a warning.

“At a time when social advances can coexist with backlash, watching queer stories on television can feel comforting. But comfort on the couch is not the same thing as progress.”

READ MORE: ‘Unconstitutional Conspiracy’: Judge Blasts Trump Administration Officials

 

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Ethics Committee Reveals Latest Republican to Come Under Review: Report

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The House Ethics Committee has reportedly announced that U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) is facing a review by the Office of Congressional Conduct.

The origin of the review was not been disclosed. Under committee rules, officials are prohibited from stating whether the matter constitutes a formal investigation or identifying its underlying cause. The Committee only stated that there is a “matter regarding Representative Nancy Mace.”

“The Committee notes that the mere fact of a referral or an extension, and the mandatory disclosure of such an extension and the name of the subject of the matter, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the Committee,” the Ethics Committee statement reads. It was posted to social media by congressional journalist Jamie Dupree.

The statement also says the committee will “announce its course of action in this matter on or before March 2, 2026.”

Congresswoman Mace is currently running for governor of South Carolina.

Earlier this month Mace warned that Republicans may lose control of the House, saying they have not “done enough” and could “do a lot more” to implement President Donald Trump’s agenda, The Hill reported.

 

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